Release mechanism for stationary knives of shredders



J. L. AASLAND 2,677,404

RELEASE MECHANISM FOR STATIONARY KNIVES OF SHREDDERS May 4, 1954 Filed Jan. 22, 1952 Patented May 4, 1954 RELEASE MECHANISM FOR STATIONARY KNIVES OF SHREDDERS John L. Aasland, Moline, Ill., assignor to International Harvester Company, a corporation of New Jersey Application January 22, 1952, Serial No. 267,674

3 Claims. (Cl. 146106) This invention relates to a new and improved release mechanism for the stationary knife of a shredder.

Shredders such as used in the cutting up of corn stalks either in a green or dry condition, or for other similar materials, ordinarily employ a knife rotor which operates in combination with a stationary knife or shear plate to effect the cutting of these materials. Such shredders may be a part of a stationary machine or may be carried on a field-traversing corn picker or the like. In either location, however, it is necessary to supply the rotor with sumcient torque to enable the rotor to continue rotating during periods of great loads. The load imposed on such a shredding mechanism is more difficult to overcome at the time of starting than it is during periods of full speed operation of the rotor inasmuch as the rotor has considerable momentum.

It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide means in association with a shredding mechanism to enable the rotor portion thereof to be started and attain full speed prior to the imposition of a heavier load thereon.

An important object of this invention is the provision of means in a shredding mechanism for hingec y mounting the stationary knife or shear plate thereof for regulating the spacing between the rotor and shear plate.

Another important object of this invention is to supply cam means for effecting an outward swinging of a plate in a shredder mechanism for the dual purpose of relieving the rotor of its load at the time of starting, and also to relieve and clean out the shredder mechanismv at any time when the mechanism becomes jammed due to overloading.

Still another important object of this invention is to provide a hinged. shear plate for a stalk shredder and in cooperation therewith cam means hinged relationship with l'espest to tha spaced for accomplishing an outward swinging of the members and hinged shear plate and further the device having The f membersLzi 22 1 are fixedly spring means for normally urging the cam means mounted Wlth respect to j into a position corresponding to the cutting posisupport The attacpment of fi Orackebs tion of the shear plate. 4- and 22 to the frame H3 is accomplished by means Othe and furthe important obje ts of this 0f Welding as Shown at effect the base j portion of the brackets 2i and 22 shown at 25 mvemloz} -9 a l from the constitute sleeves which encircle a substantial closures in the following specincation and accomportion of the tubular member m The cfihaped m awlfflgs- 5G bracket it thus is permitted swinging movement I th d aw sl about the hinge shaft 253 to effect relative posi- F l is a t p p V w f t s dd mechtioning of the stationary shear plate 1? with anism of this invention. respect to the knife blades it of the rotary chop- Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line per ll. 2-2 of Fig. 1. 55 The supporting brackets 2i and 22 are provided tened to the radial arms at I5.

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the device as shown in Fig. 1.

As shown in the drawing, the reference numeral It) indicates generally a stationary tubular supporting member. As stated above, the shred- .der mechanism of this invention may represent a stationary unit or may be mounted on a movable corn picker for the purpose of shredding stalks after the ears of corn have been picked therefrom. The supporting member Ill thus may be considered to be either a part of the stationary framework of a stationary shredder or may be considered a part of the stationary framework of a field traversing corn picker, or the like. The tubular member H3 is expressly for the purpose of carrying a shear plate of the shredder mechanism which includes the cooperating rotating cutter ii. The rotor cutter H is mounted on a transversely disposed shaft l2 which is journally mounted for rotation in stationary frame members, not shown. The rotor cutter H includes radially extending arms 53, the outer ends of which are provided with knife blades l4. As shown, the blades I 4 are riveted or oth rwise fas- The blades It are provided with sharpened forward edges it which cooperate with a stationary shear plate H, as best shown in Fig. 2, for effecting cutting of stalks or the like into short lengths The shear plate i7 is bolted, as shown at it, to a C-shaped bracket member iii. The G-shaped bracket [9 extends down beneath the main frame member iii and up around the rear side thereof. The C-member i9 carries a shaft 233 which is hingedly mounted within spaced-apart hinge brackets 2| and 22. Cotter pins 23 and 2d are adapted to pass through openings in the opposite ends of the hinge shaft 2c, thus maintaining the shaft and its C-shaped bracket it in with a bridge member '21 intermediate thereof and adjacent the sleeve-like base member 26. An adjustable screw 28 is adapted to engage a threaded aperture in the center thereof directly opposite the C-shaped bracket I9. Without other holding means the shear plate l1 and the C-shaped bracket i9 would fall to a position vertically spaced beneath the hinge shaft 20. Thus by means of the adjustable screw 28 the C-shaped bracket has its downward swinging position limited at any desired location and it is thus apparent that adjustment of the screw 28 may be employed to effect proper register of the knife edges l6 of the blades 14 with respect to the shearing knife 11.

As best shown in Fig. 2, the C-shaped bracket I9 includes an upper extension 29 on the back side of the supporting member ID and located above the hinge pin 2c. Lateral movement of the extension 29 toward and away from the stationary tubular member ii) will accomplish a swinging of the C-shaped bracket l9 about the hinge pin 20. horizontally disposed bar 30 is slidably positioned between the tubular member 10 and the upward and rearward extension '29 of the C-shaped bracket 9. The bar 38 is provided with cammed notches 3! and 32 adjacent each of the spaced apart hinges. The length of the rotor H and the cooperating shear plate I! may be any length desired and it should be understood that if the rotor and shear plate are relatively long they will require additional hinges to maintain suitable rigidity for the mounting of the shear plate. In the device as shown there are two spaced apart hin es 33, and 34. The hinge means 33 has heretofore been described in detail with the hinge pin 26, journally mounted within the spaced bracket arms 2i and 22. The construction of the spaced apart hinge 34 is identical to the hinge 33 and thus the parts thereof will not be redescribed. The cammed notches 3| and 32 of the bar 39 thus engage the upper extensions 29 of C-shaped brackets 19 and lateral movement of the bar 39 in the direction of the arrow 35 will cause the outward swinging of th upper portions 29 of the Cwhaped brackets l9. This movement results in an upward positioning of the shear plate i! as shown in the dash line position of the shear plate in Fig. 2. The cam notch 55: includes a relatively flat deep surface 36 and an inclined surface 31 extending from the deep surface 38 outwardly to the outer side of the bar 30. When the upper extension 29 of the C-shaped bracket 19 is disposed within the cam notch 3i in the fiat deep portion 35 the shear plate H is in operating relationship with respect to the rotary chopper I l; however, as the bar 38 is moved laterally the extension 29 rides up the inclined wall 31 causin the shear plate !7 to be swung upwardly away from its proximate relation with respect to the rotor knife blades It.

The bar 35 is moved laterally by the actuating lever which, as best shown in Fig. 3, is hinged at 48 to the side of the tubular frame I8. The lever arm 35 engages a notch M in the bar 30 and it is apparent that an operator may accomplish lateral shifting of the bar 39 merely by swinging the hand lever 39. A spring ,2 is anchored at one end to a post 5?.- on the stationary tubular frame is and at its other end engages the end of the bar to, as shown at 4. The spring 42 normally urges the bar 38 to the position as shown in Fig. l where the upward extensions 29 of the C shaped brackets it are in their positions wherein the shear plate [1 lies closely adjacent the knives M of the rotary chopper for causing stalks fed therethrough to be cut into short lengths.

In the operation of the present device the chopper H is rotatably driven in the direction as indicated by the arrow 2-5. The knives M on the peripheral surface of the rotor I! pass around the cutter with the shear plate I! to effect a cutting or chopping of corn stalks, or the like, which are fed through the juncture between the rotary chopper and the shear plate. When the device is put into operation it is desirable to permit the rotor II to attain its cutting speed before imposing a plurality of stalks thereon to be chopped. During this initial starting time the operator swings th lever arm 39 in the direction indicated by the arrow 46, in Fig. 3, causing the bar 30 with its spaced cammed notches 3| and 32 to be moved laterally and to thus swin the upward extensions 29 ofthe C-shaped brackets l9 outwardly away from the stationary tubular frame it causing the shear plate I! to be materially spaced from the rotor Ii. The stalks which are fed to the rotor during this startin time are, of course, not cut but immediately upon the rotor H attainin its cutting speed the hand lever is returned to its initial position as shown in full lines in 3, and the shear plate I1 is simultaneously returned to its cutting relation with respect to the rotor. The operator is assisted in returning the hand lever 39 to its home position by reason of the assisting spring 42. The home position of the shear plate H is regulated by the adjusting screw 28. Immediately upon the shear plate I? being moved down into cutting relationship the stalks passin therethrough are chopped into small pieces.

t is obvious that the starting of the rotor l I with the shear plate I! spaced therefrom saves the power unit, not shown, from becoming overloaded. Further it eliminates the necessity of employing an excessively large power unit which would be necessary if the rotor H had to be started under full load. The mass of the rotary chopper H is sufficient so that its momentum carries it through the majority of load imposed thereon. However, in the event the shredder mechanism becomes clogged or jammed after commencing operation the shredder may be conveniently cleaned out by merely shifting the hand lever .39 in the same manner as done before the shredder is put into operation.

Numerous details of construction may be varied throughout a wide range without departing from the principles disclosed herein and I therefore do not propose limiting the patent granted hereon otherwise than as necessitated by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A stalk shredder comprising a supporting structure, a cutting rotor rotatably carried on said supporting structure, a supporting bar forming part of said, supporting structure, hinge means fastened on one side of said bar, a C-shaped bracket having a hinge pin associated with said hinge means and constitutin a hinge, said 0- shaped bracket extending down around the underside of said supporting bar and thence upwardly on the other side thereof, a shear plate afiixed to the end of the C-shaped bracket away from said hinge, and means effecting swinging of said C-shaped bracket about said hinge, said means including an extension of said C-shaped bracket to the other side of said hinge, a slidable bar positioned intermediate said extension and said supporting bar, and cam means on said slidable bar adjacent said hinge for causing swinging of said C-shaped bracket about said hinge upwardly away from said cutting rotor.

2. A device as set forth in claim 1 in which a hand lever is pivotally mounted on said supporting bar, and said slidable bar havin a notch therein for receiving said pivoted hand lever, whereby swinging of said hand lever efiects swinging movement of said shear plate away from said cutting rotor.

3. A device as set forth in claim 2 in which 6 a spring means is fastened to said supporting bar and to said slidable bar for normally urging said shear plate into cutting relationship with said cutting rotor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 259,480 Case June 13, 1882 678,837 Griifin July 16, 1901 934,918 Irven et a1 Sept. 21, 1909 2,573,887 Aasland Nov.'6, 1951 

